


Trying to espresso my feelings

by whoneedsasociallifewhenyouhavefandoms



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: All ships except meanie are side ships, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Flirting, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, but also???, pretty lowkey tho, someone please teach mingyu how to flirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-06-26 12:16:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15663051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoneedsasociallifewhenyouhavefandoms/pseuds/whoneedsasociallifewhenyouhavefandoms
Summary: Are you from Starbucks? Because I like you a latte.A story about Mingyu trying to get a date with the best looking barista he has ever seen; Wonwoo, and his idiot friends trying to help him..Just make it through the first 2000 words, I promise it gets way better





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey Mingyu, stop drooling over the barista, we gotta figure out what to order!” Vernon said, giving Mingyu a slight shove as if he wanted to wake him up which sent Soonyoung into a loud cackling fit.

To Mingyu it almost felt like a blessing that the cafe he and his friends used to go to had shut down, otherwise he wouldn't have seen said, very handsome, barista. This cafe seemed smaller and definitely less popular than the other cafe but Mingyu really needed his caffeine so he wasn't complaining. Maybe ‘The coffee bean’ could be their new go-to place whenever they were craving some coffee. Mingyu definitely wouldn't have a problem with it if it meant he got to see the good-looking man behind the counter more often, as creepy as it sounds. Another shove from Vernon and Mingyu realised that he had completely ignored his younger friend. 

“Yea yea, just a second…” 

It was clear that Mingyu was still distracted so Soonyoung, who had now calmed down, smirked and looked at Vernon who seemed to understand and mirrored his expression. 

“How about we make a deal, Gyu?” Soonyoung asked innocently, “We help you get the barista’s number if you pay for our drinks?” 

Mingyu took some time to ponder over the suggestion before nodding, “Yeah okay but if it fails you will buy me coffee for the next three months.” 

Vernon and Soonyoung shared a look before looking back at Mingyu, saying “Deal” in unison. 

“Okay but how exactly are you two going to help me?” Mingyu asked, “because last time I checked you two are both single.” This earnt Mingyu two more shoves. Seriously, when will people stop shoving him?

“Puns. I read a buzzfeed article once that stated that puns will get you any man, just like that.” Mingyu didn't bother questioning why Soonyoung spent his time reading buzzfeed articles about flirting.

“It’s worth a shot,” Mingyu shrugged, “ Now I just need to come up with a pun,” 

“I got you covered, let me just find my pun book,” Soonyoung said while digging through his backpack looking for the so-called ‘pun book’.

While Soonyoung was busy Mingyu looked at Vernon for an explanation.

“He started writing puns in a notebook, I'm pretty sure it's to have something to do during math class. He probably got hundreds of them by now.” 

Mingyu was just about to ask why nobody had told him about Soonyoung’s seemingly newfound hobby (Seriously, he could use ideas for distractions during his math classes) when Soonyoung interrupted him with a triumphant “Aha!”  
Soonyoung proudly held up his notebook before opening it in the middle and started to flip through the pages while quietly mumbling “coffee” over and over.

“Hey Soonyoung, hurry up, it's almost our turn to order!” Vernon said while looking at the now much shorter line of people in front of them. A few more moments passed before Soonyoung finally found a pun he deemed good enough and whispered it in Mingyu’s ear just in time for the woman in front of them to finish her order, thus making it their turn. 

After ordering their drinks; an iced latte for Mingyu, an Americano for Vernon and some sickeningly sweet concoction for Soonyoung, Vernon and Soonyoung sneakily made their way to a table and left Mingyu to face his fear of getting rejected alone. Mingyu took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Worst case scenario the handsome man behind the counter, who according to his name tag was called Wonwoo, would reject him and Mingyu wouldn't have to pay for his coffee for three months. 

“Are you from Starbucks? Because I like you a latte,” Mingyu said with all the confidence he could muster, which to be honest wasn't a lot. 

Wonwoo, however, didn't seem amused in the slightest and simply stated that “This is ‘The Coffee Bean’” with a completely straight face and thereby crushing all of Mingyu's hopes and dreams. Completely taken aback Mingyu stuttered out an apology and hurried to his friends to wait for their drinks. At least he'll be able to drown his sorrows in coffee at the expense of his friends. 

Many cups of coffee and comforting bro pats™ on the back later it was time for them to head back to their respective apartments.

\- 

The first thing Mingyu heard when he opened the door to his shared apartment was a suspicious crunching sound coming from the kitchen. He decided not to investigate though and simply flopped down on the living room couch to wallow in self-pity. Jeonghan, Mingyu's roommate, who was sitting on the couch while scrolling on his phone let out a “hmph” in discomfort as Mingyu's head hit his legs. When it became clear that Mingyu wasn't going to move any time soon Jeonghan looked up from his phone. 

“What's up?” Jeonghan asked

“I'll never find true love,” was Mingyu's muffled reply as his face was still pressed against Jeonghan's legs.

“If this is about another one of those kpop idols I swear-” Jeonghan began before getting cut off by Mingyu.

“It’s not”

“Oh thank god,” Jeonghan exclaimed, “..wait really?”

“There's this one barista…” Mingyu began.

After having the situation explained to him Jeonghan took a while to think over the situation, with added “hmm”s every now and then for effect.

“You know what?” Jeonghan said after the 5th hmm, yes, Mingyu counted, “Maybe you should just flirt a bit with him next time? You know, ask him for his number or something?” 

Mingyu sat up and looked Jeonghan dead in the eyes. “No offence, but that's some shit advice,” Mingyu ignored Jeonghan's very offended gasp and continued, “People probably do that all the time, he'd just ignore it.” 

“Well then I don't know, Mingyu,” Jeonghan sighed, “and you clearly don't want my help anyways.” He huffed. 

As if on cue Chan decided to enter the living room from the kitchen at this exact moment. In his hand he had a half eaten pop tart. 

“You know, you could just-”

“Shut up Chan you're basically 10 what do you know about love?” Jeonghan cut him off.

Chan simply took a bite of his pop tart and shrugged before going to the kitchen once again and then finally walking to the front door of his friends’ apartment with a half-full package of oreos in one hand and the pop tart in the other.

“HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MY-” Mingyu didn't have time to finish his sentence before the door slammed shut and the apartment was filled with Jeonghan's loud laughter.


	2. Chapter 2

“So you're telling me…” Seungkwan took a moment to finish chewing on his sandwich, “that you asked Soonyoung and Vernon for advice on how to ask a guy out?” 

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Mingyu mumbled. If he had known that Minghao and Seungkwan would judge him for the rest of the lunch break, hell, maybe even the rest of the day he would have never told them about yesterday. Sadly it was too late to take it back. He said what he said and now he'd apparently have to suffer for it as if the heartbreak wasn't enough.

“And puns of all things! I don't know who I'm the most disappointed in, you or those other two idiots,” Minghao said while shaking his head, clearly disgusted by the sheer idea of asking someone out by using puns. 

“If you know so much, why don't you help me?” Mingyu had raised his voice slightly in annoyance. He was starting to get really tired of this conversation but thinking about it maybe Minghao and Seungkwan could actually help him. 

“You both have boyfriends so unless you're holding them hostage you must know something,” he continued, his annoyed expression had now changed into a pleading one.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes while Minghao looked at Mingyu up and down, which honestly made Mingyu feel pretty uncomfortable so he decided to just awkwardly return to eating his lunch. 

"Yeah, but Vernon isn't that picky and Jun is so whipped for Minghao he'd love him no matter what," Seungwan said, which got him a glare from Minghao.

Mingyu's eyes widened in shock, he didn't know Vernon and Seungkwan were dating. What more were his friends keeping from him? He didn't get to ask Seungkwan about it though, because it only took a moment before Minghao spoke up.

“You need to fix your style,” he stated.

This caused Seungkwan to clap his hands in excitement as he happily exclaimed “Fashion makeover!” Earning him a bunch of annoyed looks from students around them in the cafeteria. Seungkwan didn't mind them though, he was probably busy planning out an outfit in his head already.

\--

While getting pulled around between different stores at the mall wasn't Mingyu's ideal way to spend his afternoon he didn't mind it too much. Seungkwan and Minghao’s constant arguing, however, he could definitely go without.

“Mingyu should look like a bad boy cause who doesn't love bad boys? I'm talking leather jackets-” Minghao couldn't finish his sentence before Seungkwan cut him off,

“No no that doesn't work at all! You know Mingyu, he's like a puppy! He can't be a bad boy!” 

Mingyu felt a little awkward listening to his friends trying to judge what he himself is like but he knew better than to intervene.

“Well everyone's dream guy is a bad boy with a soft spot”

“ALL OF MINGYU IS SOFT DO YOU EVEN KNOW HIM AT ALL?!?” 

“BUT HE GOT BAD BOY POTENTIAL”

The store manager, who had gone from looking mildly annoyed to furious, stomped towards them and not-so-kindly told the trio to leave, which only further fueled Minghao's and Seungkwan's argument.

“Now look at what you've done! We got kicked out because of you,” Seungkwan said and accusingly pointed a finger at Minghao. 

“Well you started it!” 

Mingyu was starting to fear he'd get banned from the entire mall if this kept up and he hadn't had a coffee since this morning so frankly, he was tired of his friends’ bullshit.

“IF YOU TWO DON'T STOP ACTING LIKE KIDS I SWEAR I'LL TAKE YOU TO THE ZOO AND FEED YOU TO THE TIGERS” Sure, it was a lame threat but Mingyu did manage to make the pair shut up and the group of friends just stood in silence; Minghao and Seungkwan too stunned to speak and Mingyu was simply too annoyed to say anything. After what felt like hours Seungkwan decided to finally break the silence.

“We could get two different outfits?” He said, or more like asked, carefully.

Minghao seemed to ponder over it for a while, because apparently Mingyu himself didn't have much choice in the matter, before nodding.

“That works I guess. If the first style doesn't impress that guy… What was his name?...” he trailed off

“Wonwoo” Mingyu answered

“If it doesn't impress Wonwoo then Mingyu will have another outfit to try,” Minghao finished.

“This idea is great and all, and I'm glad you two are finally agreeing with each other but guys, I'm a student... I'm broke,” Mingyu said

“Do it for love, Mingyu” Seungkwan said before taking his hand to once again drag him off to some random store with Minghao not far behind.

\--

At the end of the day Mingyu had gone home with two very different outfits and significantly less money on his bank account. Minghao had gone with a typical bad boy look; leather jacket, black ripped jeans, a pair of boots, and a choker for added sexiness (Minghao's words). Seungkwan, on the other hand, had picked out some light blue shorts, a pink shirt with “Cute!” written on it, a pair of matching pink sneakers, and a white denim jacket. Now he only needed to remember which clothes went together and really, how hard could that be?

\--

Very hard, apparently, Mingyu found out the next day when he met up with Minghao and Seungkwan for a cup of coffee (mainly to meet Wonwoo but that's beside the point). When Mingyu showed up outside of the cafe in the blue shorts, the cool boots, the pink shirt, the choker, and the leather jacket looking as confident as ever Seungkwan had laughed so hard he fell down to the ground and Minghao facepalmed so hard he lost at least half of his brain cells, which probably weren't many to begin with. 

“Why do I even bother?” Minghao sighed to himself while shaking his head. 

“Does it really look that bad?” Mingyu asked, all of his confidence had been replaced by worry.

“You look,” Seungkwan laughed, “You look like a mess!” Seungkwan only laughed harder as he looked up at Mingyu and once again saw the disastrous outfit.

Mingyu groaned, “Wonwoo can't see me like this, I've already embarrassed myself in front of him once!” He put his head in his hands and Minghao was just about to check if he was actually crying when Mingyu looked up again, “you'll have to buy me coffee, bad outfit or not, I still need some caffeine”

“Fine, but give me the money for your drink cause there's no way I'm paying for your coffee after you've just practically insulted me by wearing that… That catastrophe!” Minghao said and held out a hand to accept some cash from Mingyu and simply bent down to the ground to grab Seungkwan’s wallet.

\--

Mingyu and Seungkwan, who had now stopped laughing and only giggled a little every now and then, sat on a bench outside of the cafe when Minghao finally came back, carrying three drinks in his hands. 

“Thank you!” Mingyu said to Minghao as they were walking towards a nearby park, “I don't know what I'd done if Wonwoo had seen me like this!” 

For some reason this sent Seungkwan into another fit of laughter and Mingyu and Minghao could only stare at him in confusion until he had calmed down enough to form actual words.

“He did see!” Seungkwan laughed so hard tears started to form in his eyes and Mingyu's confusion got mixed with horror, “We sat outside a window!” Seungkwan continued, still laughing.

“That doesn't mean he saw me though, right??? Right???” Mingyu looked at Minghao, “right Minghao????” 

Minghao was just about to reassure Mingyu when Seungkwan continued,

“I saw him look at you!”

Suddenly Mingyu understood why Seungkwan randomly started giggling earlier.

“And you didn't tell me?!? You're dead Boo Seungkwan, YOU'RE DEAD” 

“You should probably run, Seungkwan,” Minghao said and gave said boy a small push.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip Seungkwan, he will be missed


	3. Chapter 3

Mingyu sadly had to postpone killing Seungkwan because the class was starting in 30 minutes and he was still wearing the disaster of an outfit he had managed to put together. This was probably for the best though, considering Seungkwan really would prefer being alive. The world seemed to finally be on Mingyu's side for once, and he managed to get home to his apartment and throw on a new outfit and got to school with almost five minutes to spare before his class started. When he got there decided to just hang around his locker to scroll through his Instagram feed and catch his breath for a while. 

“Hey, man,” a familiar voice said as a hand was placed on Mingyu's shoulder, causing him to jump. When he looked up from his phone screen and saw that the voice came from Seungcheol he laughed in embarrassment before greeting his friend. 

“I'm glad you regained some of your fashion sense, not that you had much to begin with but compared to the photo Seungkwan sent me your current outfit looks amazing!” Seungcheol chuckled.

“He told you about that!?! And took photos?!?” Mingyu squawked, “and to think I just spared his life..” he said, shaking his head.

“You expected Boo to keep quiet about that? Do you even know him at all?” Seungcheol asked, jokingly looking at Mingyu a judging expression while crossing his arms. 

“Fair enough,” Mingyu mumbled, willing time to move faster so he wouldn't have to think about his embarrassing incident for any longer. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse Seungcheol decided to bring up Mingyu's crush, lord, Mingyu hated that word, on the barista. He started to wonder what he did to deserve this endless torment.

“So, Wonwoo huh?” Seungcheol said with a grin as he leaned against the lockers.

“Please don’t.” At this point all Mingyu wanted was to be swallowed by the ground.

“He’s a good kid, you know? He’s in my chemistry class and he seems pretty mature, he’d be good for you,” Seungcheol joked and nudged Mingyu’s shoulder who just rolled his eyes.

“Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you have to act like my dad.” Mingyu pushed Seungcheol away with a pout, acting a lot like a teenager annoyed by their parents.

Mingyu liked Seungcheol, he really did. It was just that Seungcheol for some reason loved to act like Mingyu’s dad. Sure, Mingyu often teased Seungcheol about his age so he supposed he got what he deserved but can’t Seungcheol tell that they’re talking about extremely serious things right now? Mingyu’s love life is at stake for heaven’s sake!

“Honest advice though, you’re pretty awkward so maybe just leave a note in his locker?” Seungcheol suggested. “Anyways, I have to go. See ya, Gyu!” And with that Seungcheol had disappeared into one of the classrooms, before Mingyu had even asked about which locker belonged to Wonwoo.

He checked the clock on the wall and noticed he only had one minute to get to class so he shoved his phone into his back pocket and hurried to the classroom. 

\--

“So now we just need to find his locker, I guess,” Mingyu finished telling the ‘plan’ to his friends Vernon and Soonyoung. 

Their lunch had just started and they were sitting on a bench outside of the school enjoying the last bit of the weather before autumn while eating. Vernon hmm’d while looking off into the distance, clearly in deep thought. Meanwhile, Soonyoung simply shrugged. He didn’t seem to have any more ideas than Mingyu, who had absolutely no ideas himself. Suddenly Vernon started snapping his fingers to get the others’ attention.

“You said he’s in Seungcheol’s chemistry class, right?”

“Uhuh,” Mingyu confirmed while nodding and looked at Vernon to urge him to continue.

“Well, what day is it today?” Vernon asked his friends. Soonyoung and Mingyu just looked at him in confusion for a few seconds before Soonyoung replied,

“Wednesday? Why?”He tilted his head a bit to the side ”Are you okay, Vernon? Did you hit your head or something?” Soonyoung moved closer to Vernon as if inspecting him.

“Yes, and Seungcheol joins us for lunch at..?” Vernon continued.

“At 12:20 because his chemistry class ends 20 minutes after our class! I never thought I’d say this but Vernon, you are a genius!” Mingyu exclaimed, quite pleased that he managed to figure it out. 

“Correct, so what here’s what we’re gonna do,” Soonyoung and Mingyu moved closer to Vernon to hear his plan better, “We follow Wonwoo from the classroom to his locker, and when he leaves we put the note in his locker!” Vernon leaned back, feeling smug for coming up with such a brilliant idea. 

The group of friends quickly gathered all of their things to be able to get to Seungcheol’s classroom before his class was over, which was in five minutes. When they got there they decided to hide behind a corner, letting Seungcheol walk out of the classroom to go look for them, unknowing of his friends’ plan. Vernon felt a bit bad about it but Mingyu argued that it’s what he deserved for annoying him previously that day. Soonyoung, who was always up for annoying the elder, didn’t try to convince Mingyu otherwise.

“You know we could just text him and tell him not to look for us, right guys?” Vernon asked, clearly the only one with a heart. 

“Nah, now shush I think that’s Wonwoo coming out of the classroom” Soonyoung said and put a finger to Vernon’s lips to make him be quiet which only made Vernon jerk his head back and shot Soonyoung a look that could only be described as a ‘Wtf are you doing?’-look. 

And sure enough, there he was; the love of Mingyu’s life, looking absolutely angelic as he walked out of the classroom and- ...and he dropped one of his books. Wonwoo quickly bent down to pick up the book before hurrying away with his face turned to the floor to hide a blush. It was obvious that he was embarrassed, as anyone would be, and while Mingyu felt bad for him he couldn’t help but think about how cute he looked and how absolutely beautiful his hair looked today and how good he looks in that light blue shirt and wow, those glasses make him look so handsome and- shit he should probably hurry if he wants to see where Wonwoo’s locker is. 

While the group was half running to keep up with Wonwoo Vernon laughed at Mingyu. “Stuck in daydream mode again, Gyu?” he teased. Oh, how Vernon was enjoying this. 

Luckily they managed to see where Wonwoo’s locker was and now all that was left to do was to wait until he had grabbed his lunchbox and disappeared around the corner of one of the school’s many hallways.

“One problem though,” Mingyu said once he was sure Wonwoo was out of earshot, “I’ve got no idea what to write on the note”

“Maybe just something simple?” Vernon suggested, “Like compliment him or ask him on a date or something like that?”

Mingyu pondered over it for a while before finally shaking his head, “No, I feel like that’s too boring… It’s not special enough?” That last part came out more like a question rather than a statement but his point got across and his friends both nodded in agreement.

“Well if nobody else comes up with something I suppose we will just have to use a pun again!” Soonyoung said. Desperate to find a use for his puns he looked at Mingyu with the best puppy-eyes he could.

“...Fine,” Mingyu reluctantly said. Man, he was weak for Soonyoung and his damn puppy-eyes.

Soonyoung jumped around a little in glee before pulling his pun book out of his backpack.

“Wow okay you really do carry it with you everywhere” Mingyu was slightly surprised by Soonyoung’s dedication to his pun book. 

They flipped through the pages for while humming every now and then when they saw a potential pun.

“How about this one?” Soonyoung asked and pointed at one of his more recent puns. 

Mingyu cringed a little when he read it but they were running out of time, Wonwoo could be back any minute now, so he ripped out a page out of his own notebook as Vernon handed him a pencil.  
“I’ve been thinking about you a latte. You’re like my coffee, keeping me up all night,” Vernon read the note out loud. It was signed with a simple ‘M’ but Wonwoo would probably understand that the note was from the same guy that embarrassed himself at the cafe a while ago, aka Mingyu. He continued, “A double pun, nice, it’s a bit creepy maybe but nice.” He gave Mingyu a thumbs up.

Mingyu reluctantly slid the note into Wonwoo’s locker and the trio went behind a corner to watch when Wonwoo would see the note. Once again; a bit creepy but their curiosity got the best of them. They hoped it wouldn’t take long though because Soonyoung was already getting tired of waiting and Mingyu was nervously pacing in circles. Vernon, well he just leaned against the wall watching Drake’s latest music video on his phone. When there were about 10 minutes left of their lunch break and they were just about to give up and go get their books from their lockers Wonwoo showed up. Luckily he didn’t see the three boys watching him like a bunch of creeps. When Wonwoo finds the folded note and opens it to read it Mingyu is pretty sure his heart stopped. Pretty much as soon as Wonwoo started reading he frowned and crumpled the paper before throwing it in a nearby trashcan, Mingyu’s broken heart along with it. Mingyu was on the verge of tears as he felt all his hopes and dreams getting crushed just like how Wonwoo crumpled that note. 

\--

When Mingyu got home he went straight to the freezer to get a box of ice cream to drown his feelings in. Jeonghan, who was lying on the couch, as usual, didn’t even look away from the TV playing his favourite kdrama when Mingyu flopped down on the couch. Mingyu got his attention a bit later though when he had started sniffling slightly. Seeing his younger friend sad instantly filled his gut with worry and it hurt his heart so he took the box of ice cream from Mingyu and placed it on the living room table before grabbing a blanket and went to hug Mingyu, wrapping the blanket around the two of them. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked while stroking the younger’s hair in a comforting manner.

“Ah... it’s a bit embarrassing really,” Mingyu said as he looked up and rubbed his eyes.

“If it’s enough to make you cry we’d better talk about it though, don’t you think?” Jeonghan asked. 

Mingyu took some time to breathe before deciding to answer, he trusted that Jeonghan wouldn’t laugh at him but instead be supportive.

“You know that guy from the cafe?” He finally asked. When Jeonghan nodded he took it as a request to continue, “I think he might hate me.” Tears were starting to well up in his eyes again.

Jeonghan pulled away from Mingyu to look him in the eyes. It really hurt him to see MIngyu like this. He was usually so happy and carefree. 

“Listen Mingyu, I don’t think anyone could ever hate you. That just seems impossible to me, so if he does hate you it would just mean that he’s a horrible, heartless, awful human being. Okay?” Jeonghan made sure to keep eye contact with Mingyu the entire time, “And I seriously doubt he hates you because from what Cheollie have told me about Wonwoo he seems like a nice guy,” he finished.

Mingyu had forgotten how quickly word spreads around his friends but he wasn’t all that surprised that Jeonghan knew about it considering how much time his older friend spends with Seungcheol. This was confirmed when Jeonghan kept talking.

“I heard you were going to leave him a note today, did that not go well?” he asked. If Seungcheol was the dad friend then Jeonghan was definitely the mother, the couple really did act like parents sometimes. 

Mingyu’s voice quivered a bit when he answered, “He frowned and just threw it away, I don’t understand I just-” Jeonghan cut him off.

“Wait Mingyu, what did you write on the note?” He asked.

“I didn’t know what to write so Soonyoung and Vernon helped me find a pun in Sooyoung's book but I don’t understand why that would matter Wonwoo clearly doesn’t like me and-” Mingyu had started rambling again so Jeonghan once again had to cut him off.

“Maybe he just doesn’t like puns?” Jeonghan suggested. He could see it in Mingyu’s eyes as realization hit him and it warmed his heart as he watched Mingyu seemingly consider the idea of it before finally nodding with a small smile.

Now that Mingyu had calmed down Jeonghan left the couch to go to the kitchen, feeling Mingyu’s eyes following him, and returning with a spoon. He went back to sit huddled under the blanket next to Mingyu and grabbed the box of ice cream. They finished all of the ice cream while watching the kdrama that Jeonghan had luckily paused. Even though Mingyu didn’t really understand the plot since he hadn’t watched it from the beginning he enjoyed spending some extra time with Jeonghan.

\--

The rest of the week had passed relatively peacefully, Mingyu mostly focused on hanging out with his friends and keeping up with schoolwork. Before he knew it Friday night had arrived and it was time for their weekly movie night. It was the one time of the week that all the boys took a break from homework to gather together. Jeonghan, Seungcheol, Joshua, Vernon, Soonyoung, Seokmin, Chan, Seungkwan, even Jihoon was there. Everyone except Jun and Minghao. 

All of them had brought snacks and drinks and were huddled up in the cramped living room, the majority of them ended up sitting on the floor.

“I wonder where Jun and Minghao are,”Jeonghan said, “I was kind of hoping Jun would come by and pick up his jacket, I think he left it here last week.”

“Meh, more space for us,” Jihoon said before stuffing his mouth with a handful of popcorn, earning him a slap on the shoulder and a “gross” from Joshua. 

“It’s getting cold though, I don’t want him to freeze,” Jeonghan frowned.

That made the entire group teasingly coo at Jeonghan and phrases like “Awe the caring mother Jeonghan” were being said. Seungcheol just looked at his boyfriend fondly as Jeonghan glared at the rest of the group.

When the movie ended they all helped clean up, except for Chan who was fast asleep in a pile of blankets on the floor. Well actually, now that he thought about it Mingyu hadn’t seen Jeonghan and Seungcheol since they paused the movie for a toilet break. He didn’t want to think further into it and he definitely did not want to go to Jeonghan’s room to look for them. He made that mistake once, Mingyu shuddered at the memory of it, that was the day he lost whatever innocence he had left. Instead, he made sure to carefully, without waking him up, put a pillow under Chan’s head where he lied on the floor. 

\--

The following morning Mingyu woke up early and enjoyed his breakfast cereal in peace. Jeonghan and Seungcheol were still sleeping, or well that’s what he assumed at least, he still didn’t dare check and Chan was still sleeping soundly on the floor. However, his breakfast was interrupted by a very persistent knocking on the door. When Mingyu opened the door he was greeted by Jun, looking way too bright and cheery for 8:30 am on a Saturday morning. 

“Bro, you’re a bit late, movie night ended 7 hours ago,” Mingyu half-joked. 

Jun snorted at the joke and entered the apartment when Mingyu stepped aside to let him in. 

“What were you and Minghao doing last night by the way?” Mingyu asked while walking back to the kitchen table, Jun following him closely.

“Honestly, you probably don’t want to know,” Jun deadpanned, causing Mingyu to choke on his cereal.

“Yeah okay I’ll take your word on it,” He said once he had stopped coughing.

“Anyways, a little birdie told me you’ve got a crush,” Jun teasingly sing-songed.

“If that little birdie is Seungkwan then you can tell your bird that he’s dead, I haven’t forgotten about his betrayal yet” 

“Uh actually I’m just gonna say that this bird is anonymous for his own safety..” Jun swallowed, fearing for Seungkwan's life. 

“Oh well now that you know about it, can you PLEASE help me?” Mingyu was practically begging Jun for help.

Jun pretended to think for a while just to mess with Mingyu.

“Come on! You got Minghao so you must know how to do it! Just please help me I’m getting desperate,” Mingyu kept begging until Jun finally took pity on him and a bit flustered he tried to figure out how to help his friend.

“Umm,” Jun had to think for a while, “I think you just have to be more like me,” he joked. 

“Nope, no terrible idea,” Mingyu said

Jun faked being offended, “Well do you want my help or not?” he threatened.

Mingyu quickly apologized with his hands in the air to show innocence.

“Okay so maybe try charming him?” Jun stopped to think again,”Pretend I’m Wonwoo and hit me with your best pick-up line!” 

“Jun, no.”

“Just do it, Gyu” He sighed.

Mingyu finished chewing on his cereal and looked out the window to think. He didn’t really know any pick-up lines because he’d never have a use for them before. Mingyu did remember watching a youtube video about pick-up lines… 

“Okay here goes,” He took a deep breath, “Is that a mirror in your pocket? Because I can see myself in your jeans” Jun visibly cringed when he heard Mingyu’s horrible pick-up line

“Nope absolutely not, I think you’re beyond help, this is a hopeless case,” Jun was almost offended by Mingyu’s attempt at flirting. 

Jun happened to glance at the clock,”SHIT!” His scream made Mingyu jump in his seat.

“I was only supposed to get my jacket! Minghao is waiting outside!” Mingyu was suddenly really happy he didn’t get any actual help from Jun because right now Jun seems like a horrible boyfriend. 

Mingyu didn’t even get to say goodbye to Jun before he was out the door, with his jacket in hand. This woke up Jeonghan who screeched at Mingyu to keep quiet or he won’t live to see tomorrow. In order to survive MIngyu decided to leave the apartment and go get a coffee, he seriously doubted Wonwoo would be there working every day, especially not on early Saturday mornings.

Luckily he’s right, Wonwoo wasn’t working today, instead, he saw Jihoon sitting with his laptop open at a table completely covered in empty coffee cups. The cafe was open 24/7 and it was on the way from Mingyu’s apartment to Jihoon’s so Mingyu hoped Jihoon hadn’t been there the entire night but he wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. Judging by the number of coffee cups and the bags under Jihoon’s eyes Mingyu knew he had to proceed with caution, so he quietly walked up to the table once he got his drink and sat in the chair opposite of Jihoon. He still hadn’t said a word and that didn’t change for 10 minutes, when Mingyu had almost finished his cup of coffee. 

“Did you want something?” Jihoon finally asked, without looking up from the screen in front of him. 

Jihoon’s love for producing songs had started years ago and he hoped to make it big after college. He was certainly dedicated, constantly composing beats and writing lyrics.

“Well actually now that you asked…” Mingyu began. He knew that Jihoon wouldn’t add much to the conversation but he was good at listening so Mingyu started retelling the morning’s events without waiting for any replies from Jihoon.

“Maybe you should write a song for him and serenade him? That’s pretty romantic and special, isn’t it?” Jihoon suggested once Mingyu was done talking. 

“Good idea, one problem though; I can’t sing without sounding like a dying whale,” Mingyu laughed, Jihoon had heard him sing so just the fact that he suggested it was just silly.

Jihoon sighed deeply, “Do some romantic rap or some shit then I don’t know”

He sounded annoyed but Mingyu knew that Jihoon was actually a big softie on the inside so he decided he had bothered his poor friend enough and finished the rest of his drink in one go before leaving the cafe to go home again.

When he got home both Chan and Seungcheol had left and Jeonghan was back in his usual spot on the couch. Mingyu went to his room to get a piece of paper to try to come up with some lines for a rap. It didn’t take long before he gave up though and let out a sound of frustration. This got Jeonghan’s attention, who asked what he was doing.

“Jihoon suggested I’d write a rap song for Wonwoo but I just don’t think I have it in me,” Mingyu pouted.

“Good, it was a creepy idea anyways.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update! I tried to make up for it by writing a longer chapter this time


	4. Chapter 4

After all his failed attempts Mingyu was no longer as optimistic when it came to trying to win Wonwoo’s heart. And given the fact that it was early Monday morning and Mingyu had just suffered through 80 minutes of math it was safe to say he wasn’t feeling the best when he passed his gleeful friend Seokmin in the hallway.

“Bro, you look like shit, did you get rejected by your barista boy again?” Seokmin asked with a small grin as they met in the middle of the hallway.

Mingyu knew that Seokmin was just trying to joke about the situation to cheer him up all Mingyu did was sigh.

“I didn’t even manage to ask him out this time,” And stopped walking to talk to Seokmin, who did the same, “Neither Jun or Jihoon managed to help me and I’m all out of ideas.” 

Seokmin nodded in understanding and patted Mingyu on the shoulder. 

“Lucky you though, because I happen to know how you can impress your prince charming,” Seokmin suddenly said, grinning from ear to ear.

This made Mingyu’s eyes light up and a hopeful smile spread across his face. After being grumpy all day the regular happy Mingyu seemed to return. Who knew a boy, who was technically a stranger, could have such a huge impact on his mood? Seokmin took some time before continuing. He enjoyed seeing the younger look at him as if he had the answers to all the questions in the world, as sadistic as it sounds.  
“You’re good at cooking so bake him so cookies,” Seokmin stumbled onto Mingyu when he got pushed out of the way of a group of jocks.

“It’s the perfect plan because one,” Seokmin held up a finger, “you’re a great cook. And two,” he held up a second finger, “a man who can cook is totally husband material, I swear if I wasn’t straight I’d totally marry you,” Seokmin said, completely serious, earning him a snort from Mingyu.

“Hell, I’d marry you without even being gay just for the food.” Mingyu was now full on laughing, all doubled over and weak in the knees. 

“The only reason I’m not proposing to you right in this very moment is because I know you’re Wonwoo’s man and I can’t win your heart over from a barista because I can’t compete with his coffee-making skills.” Tears were forming in MIngyu’s eyes and his abs were getting a real workout from his laughter. 

“No homo though,” Seokmin said before he walked away to his next class, leaving Mingyu dying from his laughter on the floor. 

\---

Once Mingyu had recovered and given his conversation with Seokmin some thought he decided on two things. One, baking cookies for Wonwoo seemed like a great idea, way better than puns at least, and he likes cooking so baking should be fun as well. And two, he’d never ever marry Seokmin, even if Wonwoo hadn’t stolen his heart. 

When his last class of the day was over he had two hours before he was going to meet Joshua at the library to study so he decided to go home and bake the cookies while he was waiting. Luckily they had all the ingredients needed for chocolate chip cookies at the apartment so it didn’t take long until the cookies were baking in the oven. They were looking absolutely perfect and Mingyu gave himself the title of the best baker of the entire apartment complex. When the cookies were out of the oven he had roughly 30 minutes to get to the library so he put them down on the counter to cool so he could put them in a box for Wonwoo when he got home again. 

He walked to the library with a pep in his step, he was now confident that Wonwoo would finally stop rejecting him and at least go on a date with him. He stopped dead in his tracks, what if Wonwoo wasn’t even into dudes? What if he just baked perfect chocolate chip cookies for a straight guy? The horror! He was so used to just assuming nobody was straight, well except for Seokmin and Chan; they were the only straight people Mingyu knew. Gay had kind of become the norm for Mingyu. With all the couples; Jeonghan and Seungcheol, Jun and Minghao, and Vernon and Seungkwan, as well as the rest of his friends. He was kind of surrounded by gay people.

He expressed his worry to Joshua when they had sat down at a library table. Thankfully Joshua was more observant than Mingyu and could quickly reassure him though because apparently, Wonwoo was openly gay and quite an active member of the school’s lgbtq+ club, something Mingyu somehow had managed to miss. Without any worry left in his mind concentrating was easier than ever and before he knew it Mingyu had finished his entire essay. 

When Mingyu was making his way home again his mood had made a complete 180 from how he was feeling during the morning, frankly. he’d never been better. He unlocked the door to his apartment.

“Hey, I’m ho-” He began but stopped when he heard a suspicious crunching from the kitchen. 

He kicked off his muddy shoes and walked into the kitchen just in time to see Chan sitting on the kitchen counter, take a bite out of the last remaining cookie. 

“D-did you eat all of the cookies?!?” Mingyu practically yelled.

Chan looked like a deer caught in headlights, “Uhh yeah..” he nodded, cookie crumbles falling from his mouth.

“THERE WAS 20 OF THEM! YOU’RE TELLING ME YOU ATE 20 COOKIES?” Mingyu had definitely reached the point of yelling now.

“I uhh,” Chan hopped down from the counter and went against the wall in an attempt to escape from the room but still stay as far away from his older friend as possible, “I was hungry?” Chan made a run for the door and just barely managed to avoid Mingyu’s hands reaching for him. 

\--

When Joshua entered the apartment 30 minutes later to return an extremely interesting book about 18th-century writing that Mingyu had forgotten at the library he found him lying face down on the kitchen floor.

“Hey, you forgot your-,” he heard a low sniffle, “Gyu? Are you crying?” He walked closer to his friends and crouched down next to him.

“Maybe.” Was the muffled reply he received from his friend. 

“What happened? You were so happy when you left,” Joshua patted Mingyu’s hair a little in a comforting manner. 

“Chan was here.”

“Oh.” Joshua immediately knew what had happened, “why don’t you just make new cookies then?”

“We’re out of ingredients and I can’t waste money on buying more,” Mingyu let out something that sounded like a mix between a sigh and a sniffle.

“How about you do something else then? Write a poem maybe?” Joshua suggested, to which Mingyu just... shrugged? It was a little difficult to tell when he was lying down. 

“Listen, buddy, I really need to go, but I’m sure Jeonghan will come home soon and offer emotional support," Joshua gave Mingyu a pitiful look, "unless he stays at Cheol’s place I guess,” He added in afterthought before standing up from the floor and walking out of the apartment. 

When Jeonghan did come home Mingyu had managed to get up from the floor and collect himself, he really was weak for Wonwoo. After Mingyu had shared the idea he got from Joshua with Jeonghan and gotten encouragement from him he left the kitchen to go to his bedroom and start writing the poem. He wanted it done as soon as possible. When he shut his door he could hear Jeonghan talking loudly on the phone, he seemed to be venting about what Chan did.

“We didn’t raise our kids to be like this!” Jeonghan could be heard clearly through the apartment walls.

There was a short pause of silence before Jeonghan continued, “No I KNOW they’re not our actual kids, Cheol, but-” he seemingly got cut off by Seungcheol. 

Mingyu used the moment of silence to start brainstorming ideas for his poem, he really wanted it to be about coffee because it was sort of his thing now and Mingyu thought that Wonwoo must really like coffee if he works at a cafe. He started chewing on his pencil while thinking about the first line to write. ‘You are like-’ his thoughts were interrupted by Jeonghan’s voice once again sounding throughout the apartment.

“That doesn’t mean they should get to do whatever they want!” Jeonghan’s voice was now even louder, he seemed to be more upset with this whole ordeal than Mingyu was. Then again Mingyu was crying on the kitchen floor just an hour ago.

“No Cheol, I am NOT taking back the apartment key I gave him! You know how much it means to him to be welcome here how could you even suggest that?!?” Jeonghan borderline yelled. About half a year earlier Jeonghan had decided to give Chan a key to the apartment since he was visiting them so often. It wasn’t uncommon for Chan to come over to their apartment to relax after school before going home to his parents’ house.

There was another pause, Mingyu couldn’t wait for Jeonghan’s phone call to be over so he could finally concentrate. He liked sharing an apartment with Jeonghan, he really did, but the walls might as well have been made of paper. 

“Yes, yes, you’re right, I’m sorry sweetie pie.” Mingyu was happy Jeonghan had lowered the volume of his voice but lord the pet names were just sickening. He was pretty sure Jeonghan and Seungcheol were the grossest couple he knew when it came to PDA. 

“Nope you can pry that pet name out of my cold dead hands, I’ll never stop calling you that.” There was a hint of a laugh in Jeonghan’s voice.

“Nope nothing can change my mind on that, I gotta go now sweetie pie,” Jeonghan made sure to put extra emphasis on the pet name, “I love you, bye!”

Mingyu let out a sigh, finally the apartment was quiet enough for him to focus on his writing.

' Your eyes remind me of the deep and dark beverage in my cup 

I wish I could get a closeup,

Giving me energy during the cold and grey days is what you do best,

Although you don’t know me,

Are you up for a test,

To see if we fit together,

Like a hot coffee and autumn weather? '

When Mingyu was finally happy with how the poem turned out he read it out loud for Jeonghan to get his opinion on it. After he had finished reading it he made sure to remind Jeonghan that he was NOT majoring in writing. 

“Well I’m not gonna lie to you, Gyu,” Jeonghan began and Mingyu felt a lump starting to form in his throat, “that was kind of cringy as hell.” There it was. Mingyu should’ve known the poem was a huge mistake.

“However, I think it’s really sweet and I’m sure Wonwoo would appreciate it,” Jeonghan finished with one of his angel-like smiles which in turn made Mingy smile as well, showing off his canine teeth.

\---

With Jeonghan’s reassurement Mingyu didn’t hesitate when he walked up to Wonwoo’s locker the following day. He had written the poem down once again but on a nicer piece of paper. He had made sure that every single letter looked perfect, even the dots over the i’s were works of art. Finally, he had once again signed it with an ‘M’. He slipped the paper into Wonwoo’s locker just in time for him to hear footsteps coming towards him. He ran the opposite direction and managed to sneak behind a hallway corner right before the person in question saw him. Being the curious guy he is, Mingyu decided to throw a glance past the protection of the hallway corner to see who it was. OF COURSE it was Wonwoo. Now Mingyu practically had no choice, he just had to stay and watch Wonwoo’s reaction, even though it was risky since this hallway wasn’t as safe of a hiding spot as the one he had hidden in previously. His curiosity simply got the best of him. 

From Mingyu’s spot he could see Wonwoo’s face meaning it was easy to see his reaction. He watched anxiously as Wonwoo found the piece of paper. His surprised expression he got when he found the paper morphed into a frown. Mingyu was certain that Wonwoo would once again crumple the paper and throw it away but he didn’t want to stay and actually see it happen so instead he turned on his heel and walked away to meet his friends for lunch, completely and utterly heartbroken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta reader described my fanfic as one "Where Mingyu is sad 24/7 and his hopes and dreams get crushed at least five times a day" and the accURACY
> 
> Anyways only one chapter left wooo!!!


	5. Chapter 5

It turned out all of Mingyu’s friends had ditched him, well everyone except Chan but after that incident with the cookies… Mingyu had two options; stay salty and sit alone in the cafeteria like a loser or get over his grudge and sit with Chan, who was sitting at an empty table near one of the cafeteria walls. Now Mingyu wasn’t one to hold a grudge, being roommates with Jeonghan meant he was instead the one to suffer from people holding grudges, so he decided on the second option. Besides, he could use some company after getting his heart broken once again just a couple of minutes ago, even if it meant he had to sit with a cookie eating demon like Chan. So he walked up to Chan’s table and dropped his tray onto it, causing some rise to spill out of his plate, and the noise of the impact made Chan look up from his plate. Even though Chan was still slightly fearing for his life after eating the older’s cookies he felt the need to check up on how he was doing when he noticed Mingyu’s mopey expression. 

“Are you okay? You look a bit down, did you get your heart broken again?” Chan tried to joke in an attempt to lighten up the mood and minimize any awkwardness. 

“Actually, yes,” Mingyu answered, with the corners of his mouth turned downwards in a frown, “I think I should give up on Wonwoo now.”

Chan looked at his friend with sad eyes, “Aw I’m sorry Mingyu, I can’t help but think it’s my fault.”

Mingyu shook his head, “No, it’s okay. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be,” Mingyu knew that he had no reason not to accept his friend’s apology, he shouldn’t be petty over such a tiny thing. 

Chan didn’t want Mingyu to give up though, so with nobody there to stop him he decided to give Mingyu some advice of his own.

“Maybe you should just be yourself?” He suggested. 

Mingyu looked up at him but didn’t say anything so Chan continued, “Because Wonwoo should fall for you, not your friends.” He paused for a second to meet Mingyu’s eyes before he talked again, “No matter how funny Soonyoung’s puns are, or how romantic Jihoon’s songs are, no matter how charming Jun is, how heartwarming Joshua’s poems are, or how fashionable Minghao is, they’re not you.” He finished. 

Mingyu was in awe, to say the least, he felt like he hadn’t given Chan enough credit for how wise he actually was. All Mingyu could do was look at Chan with wide eyes while the younger was looking bashfully down at the table, studying a grain of rice to avoid meeting Mingyu’s eyes. It wasn’t often Chan spoke up about such deep, emotional, thoughts, maybe because he was never really given the opportunity. Mingyu felt a bit bad when he thought back at the moment the younger had first tried to give him advice regarding Wonwoo. They should all really let the kid speak up more. 

“You’re right,” Mingyu finally broke the silence, “You’re smarter than you look,” he joked in order to spare them both of the heavy atmosphere. 

Chan slapped him on the shoulder, “And you’re as dumb as you’re tall,” he retorted. 

The pair kept playfully bickering throughout the rest of the lunch break, which Mingyu found passed really quickly in the company of his younger friend. 

Before they parted ways to head to their respective classrooms Mingyu said, “I think I might try asking Wonwoo out again, my own way, after school,” Chan smiled and urged him to continue, “Be there as moral support?” Mingyu asked.

“Of course, I’ll text you after class!”

And with that the two friends walked separate ways.

\---

Mingyu’s last class had ended a bit earlier than Chan’s so he leaned against some lockers close to Chan’s and watched some Youtube videos on his phone while waiting. When Chan made it to his locker Mingyu was so immersed in the video he didn’t notice his friend approaching him. Chan decided to take advantage of that opportunity and sneaked up on his older friend to scare him, causing Mingyu to curse and almost drop his phone. Chan just laughed at him.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked Mingyu.

“Yep, Wonwoo was working this time last week so hopefully he’ll be there.” 

On their way to the cafe they mainly talked about school, as Mingyu didn’t want to talk about anything regarding Wonwoo. He claimed it just made him nervous. 

When they arrived at the entrance of the small cafe Mingyu took a deep breath before opening the door. Of course he had to push when it was really a pull door which just made him even more anxious. How embarrassing. 

“I’ll order a drink first so I can give you some space and time to calm down,” Chan said and gave Mingyu a reassuring pat on the shoulder. It almost felt as if Chan was actually the older of the two. 

Except for Wonwoo, who indeed was working, there was only one other person in the cafe besides the two friends, sitting out of earshot in the back of the cafe. Before Mingyu knew it Chan had already received his drink and was making his way to a table, giving Mingyu a not so subtle thumbs-up on the way. Mingyu took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat. Here goes nothing.

Up close Wonwoo was even more stunning than Mingyu remembered him and he had a hard time finding his words. 

“Hello and welcome to the Coffee Bean, what can I get you?” Wonwoo asked.

All Mingyu could think about was how beautifully every single strand of Wonwoo’s black hair was placed on his head with a few strands falling down against his forehead.

“Beautiful...” Oh no, did Mingyu just say that out loud? 

The next thing Wonwoo said confirmed Mingyu’s fear, “Excuse me?” Wonwoo looked genuinely confused and slightly weirded out.

“I’m so sorry! I really didn’t mean to it just happened, I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable I can leave the cafe if you want to and-” Mingyu began frantically rambling an apology. 

From his seat a few metres away Chan facepalmed. 

“Please calm down, it’s okay,” Wonwoo said. Out of all his encounters with customers, this was probably one of the weirdest. 

“No it’s not, just because I think you’re handsome I shouldn’t make you uncomfortable like that I’m so-” Mingyu stopped talking when he realized what he said. 

Wonwoo gave him an amused look, “You think I’m handsome?” 

“Uh… Yeah?” Mingyu looked at everything except for Wonwoo’s eyes. Oh what a beautiful pebble there on the ground, truly a piece of art. 

“Wait are you the guy with the puns?” Wonwoo asked him.

“Yeah about that,” Mingyu began, “That was actually my friend’s idea.” He scratched his neck in embarrassment. 

Wonwoo just looked at him as if he was processing what Mingyu was saying. 

“I guess I should just tell you the whole story?” It came out as a question. 

Wonwoo nodded slightly so Mingyu took that as a yes and began retelling everything, trying not to get distracted by how beautiful Wonwoo looked and how intensely he was looking at Mingyu.

“Well you know about that first failure of a pun already,” Mingyu could hear Wonwoo chuckle slightly at this, what a beautiful sound.

“After that I,“ Mingyu breathed out a laugh, “I got some fashion advice from some other friends but of course I managed to mess that up.” Wonwoo still didn’t say anything so Mingyu just continued talking. “And then I left you a note with a pun in your locker, and later a poem, but I guess you’re not a fan of those, huh?” Mingyu’s hands were shaking from his nerves, “There was some other attempts too but they were so bad you don’t even know about them.”

“Oh and I’m Mingyu by the way,” He quickly added. 

Finally Wonwoo decided to talk, “I actually thought you were joking,” he confessed. 

“What?”

“Ever since I started working here people have jokingly ‘asked me out’,” He raised his hands to do air quotation marks, “using various coffee related references,” Wonwoo said.

Mingyu felt bad for Wonwoo, getting asked out as a joke is horrible.

“But you’re cute and if you really were serious,” Wonwoo looked at Mingyu for confirmation which he got in the form of an eager nod, “Do you want to go out on a date or something? Gosh that sounds kinda weird” Wonwoo said, face red like a tomato from blushing which Mingyu found absolutely adorable.

“I would love to, there's this really good cafe by the coast- not that your coffee isn't good but the view there is-” 

“Mingyu, it sounds wonderful but I absolutely hate coffee,” Wonwoo said.

“Oh.” Mingyu looked like a sad puppy, “Then I fear I’m out of ideas,” he scratched the back of his neck again, it seemed like a common nervous habit of his. 

“Well,” Wonwoo said, “my shift ends in about an hour, would you be alright with waiting and we can get some dinner afterwards?” Wonwoo suggested with a smile. 

Lord, Mingyu fell in love with that smile right away. It was the most beautiful smile Mingyu had ever seen. If he wasn’t completely enchanted by Wonwoo before then he definitely was now.

“Sounds like a plan,” Mingyu grinned before ordering a coffee to drink while waiting. 

New customers were entering the cafe so he walked up to Chan and took a seat next to him. 

“Judging by your face I guess it went well?” Chan smiled brightly at Mingyu.

“Oh don’t act like you weren’t eavesdropping this entire time”

“Okay you got me there,” Chan admitted with a laugh. 

The hour passed quickly with Chan’s company, even if Chan complained about Mingyu being distracted at least once every five minutes. Mingyu just couldn’t help it, his eyes kept finding Wonwoo who was working behind the desk. He looked especially stunning towards the end of his shift when the sun was starting to go down making the orange rays hit his face in the most beautiful way. To Mingyu he looked unreal, like an angel. 

Before Mingyu knew it Wonwoo’s shift was over and he had walked up to Mingyu’s and Chan’s table. He had taken off his apron and Mingyu took a second to appreciate the way he was dressed; ripped blue jeans with a dark blue sweater, along with the glasses perched on his nose of course. Wonwoo and Chan briefly introduced themselves to each other before they left the cafe, Chan to go home and Mingyu and Wonwoo to go to a restaurant Wonwoo had picked out.

It was a nice, dimly lit restaurant with reasonably cheap prices and Mingyu mentally thanked Wonwoo because after buying those clothes the other day his budget was already blown. 

Initially Mingyu was worried that they’d be stuck in an awkward silence while waiting for their food because while he could definitely enjoy just watching Wonwoo he didn’t think that would make a very successful date. Luckily he had nothing to worry about because they hit it off right away. 

“I still can’t believe you don’t like coffee,” Mingyu said.

“Well I can’t believe that you like it,” Wonwoo countered, “it tastes like shit.” That made Mingyu gasp.

“How dare you? I’m almost second guessing this date now,” Mingyu joked.

“Nah you aren’t, not after all the work you did to get to this point” Wonwoo teased with a glint in his eyes. 

Mingyu pouted, “You’re right,” they both laughed. 

“I actually kept that poem,” Wonwoo said suddenly.

“Really?” Mingyu lit up.

Wonwoo fished the folded paper with the poem on it out of his jeans pocket as proof.

“Yup, at that point I thought there was at least a slight possibility that you were genuine, I’ve never seen anyone go that far for a joke before,” He chuckled.

Mingyu felt the butterflies in his stomach go crazy, he was overjoyed by the knowledge that Wonwoo didn’t throw the poem away. 

“It was really cute actually.” A blush painted Wonwoo’s cheeks and Mingyu giggled, giggled!!! from the sight. Wonwoo really was doing things to him.

The two boys were talking about everything between school, family, and childhood memories while enjoying their plates of pasta and Mingyu found himself falling in love with all the little details that made up Wonwoo’s complexion. Like the curve of his lips, the shape of his eyes, the angle of his nose and his sharp jawline. They all added up to the most attractive face Mingyu had ever seen. And on top of that Wonwoo’s personality was Mingyu’s definition of perfect. And don’t even get him started on the way Wonwoo’s glasses kept riding down his nose in the most endearing way and how his hair kept falling into his eyes. It was safe to say that Mingyu was swooning. 

After three hours they were still sitting in the restaurant and talking, food since long finished. Mingyu had even managed to drink two cups of coffees after the meal. 

“I’m starting to believe you might have a caffeine addiction,” Wonwoo chuckled.

“Shhh you know nothing,” Mingyu took another sip from his cup.

Well into the third hour, nearing the fourth, they reluctantly decided that it was time to leave the restaurant, it was getting late after all. Mingyu insisted to walk Wonwoo to his dorm, really it was just an excuse to prolong their date. As they were walking side by side in the chilly autumn air their hands brushed each other for a split second. Mingyu was just about to pull his hand away and put it in his pockets to avoid it happening when Wonwoo reached out and grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers. If anyone saw the blushes spreading on both of their faces they blamed it on the cold weather.

“This was really nice,” Wonwoo said when they reached the door to his dorm.

Mingyu agreed, “Does that mean there will be a second date?” He asked with his voice full of hope

“There better be,” Wonwoo took out a pen and a piece of paper from his back and wrote his number on it before handing it to Mingyu, “so call me.” 

Mingyu nodded and carefully put the paper into one of his jacket pockets as if he was afraid to accidentally tear it or something. When he was done he looked up at Wonwoo who met his eyes. They both stood in silence for a while, neither of them wanted the evening to end. Mingyu’s eyes kept flickering to Wonwoo’s lips but in the end it was Wonwoo who made a move. He slowly moved closer to Mingyu’s face until his lips met Mingyu’s. Mingyu gasped softly before kissing back, cupping Wonwoo’s face to get a better angle. Mingyu couldn't believe that he was actually kissing Wonwoo. He felt like the world was spinning and all that there was was just Wonwoo, Wonwoo, Wonwoo and his soft, slightly chapped lips. Wonwoo brought his hands to Mingyu’s hair and deepened the kiss, both of them getting lost in the sensation. Mingyu had no idea how long they had been kissing but when they finally broke apart they were both out of breath. They pressed their foreheads together and just stood there for a while, pressed closely together and breathily laughing against each other’s mouths while catching their breaths. After a quick peck followed by some more soft laughter, they moved apart. 

Mingyu’s lips had tasted like coffee but Wonwoo thought that maybe he could learn to like the taste after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first time writing any kind of romance so sorry if I disappointed you heh
> 
> I can't believe this story is over now... I didn't think I'd get so attached to it haha
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has left me kudos and comments <3


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